British Birds - Warblers

This is a bird of open but shady mature woodlands, such as beech, with some sparse ground cover for nesting. Can you put a name to it? Answers please at question 10!

British Birds - Warblers

There are a number of Passeriformes (perching birds) called 'warblers'. They are not particularly closely related, but share some characteristics, such as being fairly small, vocal and insectivorous. They tend to be more easily heard than seen. Identification can be difficult and may be made on the basis of song alone.

Which of these options do you prefer?

  1. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of http://photo-natur.de/
    • Group: Old World Warblers
    • Binomial: Phylloscopus trochilus
    • Order: Passeriformes
    • Family: Sylviidae
    • Status: Breeding Summer Visitor
    • Very common and widespread.
    • Its song is a simple repetitive descending whistle, while the contact call is a disyllabic 'hoo-eet'.
    • It is greenish brown above and off-white to yellowish below.

  2. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of Billyboy
    • Group: Old World Warblers
    • Binomial: Sylvia borin
    • Order: Passeriformes
    • Family: Sylviidae
    • Status: Breeding Summer Visitor
    • A very plain bird with no distinguishing features (a feature in itself!).
    • Especially likes coppiced woodland. Sometimes seen in farmland hedgerows.
    • Its song is a pleasant chattering with many clearer notes like a blackbird.

  3. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of Mark S Jobling
    • Group: Old World Warblers
    • Binomial: Cettia cetti
    • Order: Passeriformes
    • Family: Sylviidae
    • Status: Resident Breeding Species
    • It is one of the UK's most recent colonists, first breeding here in 1973.
    • Likes damp areas close to wetlands.
    • A skulking bird and can prove very difficult to see.
    • Named after an Italian zoologist.

  4. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of http://www.marekszczepanek.pl/
    • Group: Old World Warblers
    • Binomial: Acrocephalus palustris
    • Order: Passeriformes
    • Family: Sylviidae
    • Status: Breeding Summer Visitor
    • It is notable for incorporating striking imitations of a wide variety of other birds into its song.
    • The UK population of this warbler has fallen and is now of serious conservation concern.

  5. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of Martien Brand
    • Group: Old World Warblers
    • Binomial: Acrocephalus scirpaceus
    • Order: Passeriformes
    • Family: Sylviidae
    • Status: Breeding Summer Visitor
    • In the summer, can be looked for in reedbeds in lowland central and southern England and Wales.
    • Sings from within the reedbed rather than from a perch, so often heard rather than seen.

  6. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of Stefan Hage
    • Group: Old World Warblers
    • Binomial: Locustella naevia
    • Order: Passeriformes
    • Family: Sylviidae
    • Status: Breeding Summer Visitor
    • It creeps through grass and low foliage.
    • A skulking species which is very difficult to see.
    • The song is a monotonous mechanical insect-like reeling, often given at dusk.
    • It winters from Africa to India.

  7. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of Gabriel Buissart
    • Group: Old World Warblers
    • Binomial: Acrocephalus schoenobaenus
    • Order: Passeriformes
    • Family: Sylviidae
    • Status: Breeding Summer Visitor
    • It is a summer visitor, and winters in Africa, south of the Sahara Desert.
    • The song is varied, rushed and chattering, with sweeter phrases and some mimicry.
    • This warbler is mostly insectivorous.

  8. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of J Dietrich
    • Group: Old World Warblers
    • Binomial: Sylvia undata
    • Order: Passeriformes
    • Family: Sylviidae
    • Status: Resident Breeding Species
    • This long-tailed warbler has suffered in the past from severe winters.
    • Its population crashed to a few pairs in the 1960s, since when it has gradually recovered, increasing in both numbers and range.

  9. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of Jakub Stanco
    • Group: Old World Warblers
    • Binomial: Sylvia atricapilla
    • Order: Passeriformes
    • Family: Sylviidae
    • Status: Resident Breeding Species & Summer Visitor
    • The alarm call, 'tacc', sounds like two pebbles striking one another.
    • Its song is a rich and varied warble, starting with a chattering and finishing with a flourish of flute-like notes.

  10. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of Steve Garvie
    • Group: Old World Warblers
    • Binomial: Phylloscopus sibilatrix
    • Order: Passeriformes
    • Family: Sylviidae
    • Status: Breeding Summer Visitor
    • This warbler is strongly migratory and the entire population winters in tropical Africa.
    • This is a bird of open but shady mature woodlands, such as beech, with some sparse ground cover for nesting.
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